What's been going on...

The announcement was made during a roundtable discussion in Boston
with a group of Massachusetts based women and minority business
leaders. Jameel Webb-Davis of Start Money Smart was asked to sit on
the panel and participated in the discussion. U.S. Senator John
Kerry, Chairman of the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship, attended and participated in the discussion.
Read
the article...

StartMoneySmart has submitted the idea to get
financial literacy in schools.

Introducing The Members ProjectSM, an exciting new
initiative that brings American Express® Cardmembers together to
do something good for our world. Join Cardmembers to dream up, and
ultimately unite behind, one incredible idea. Start Money Smart
submitted the idea of making it mandatory in our school's curriculum
to teach personal finance. On August 7, American Express will fund
the winning idea with up to $5 million. The possibilities are
endless. The decision is yours. Visit membersproject.com.

What's coming up...

The Center for Women and Enterprise has asked Jameel Webb-Davis to
be an instructor for this summer's Wi$e Up Finance Workshop. This
combination of workshops, self-study and on-line modules will give
teenagers the knowledge and tools so that they can make smart money
choices. Learn
more about the Wi$e Up Program.

Rediscovery, Inc. has asked Jameel Webb-Davis to be a guest
instructor for a financial literacy program. Rediscovery, Inc. is a
small nonprofit, community based, group home and independent living
program that offers services to youth of ages 16-22 who are in the
care/custody of one of the Massachusetts state systems of care. Their
Financial Literacy program is a series of one to two hour workshops
each of which covers a different aspect of personal finance that is
pertinent to youth development. Learn more about Rediscovery, Inc. and its
programs.

See what's new on the website!

Review other organizations with financial literacy information,
tools for parents, and articles to review. Check out our new
Resources link.

"Don't spend what you don't have" - is it
really that simple?

I was reading comments posted on a message board about whether
financial literacy needed to be taught in our schools. One of the
comments regarding debt was, "Just teach people that they shouldn't
spend what they don't have." That person went on to say, "It's not
brain surgery, is it?"

In today's society there's an underlying belief that people who get
themselves into debt are either too lazy, too dumb, or too spoiled to
understand how to stay out of debt. I believe many people are under
the impression managing debt is really as simple as "don't spend
what you don't have."

Do you know what you have? Many of my clients have no idea how
much money they have. There's more to it than just looking at your
annual salary. In fact, your income really tells you nothing about
what you have. You have to look at your expenses. And many people
don't take out the time to calculate their expenses. We should all
realize, it's not what you make, it's what you owe. Two people that
both make $60K a year can have very different lifestyles based on
their expenses.

Buy now, make no payments for... Our whole culture is designed to
encourage people to spend money you don't have. Do you think the
average American is going to wait until they have the money to buy a
new washer and dryer when the old one breaks down? How many people
can be convinced to wash their clothes in the sink until they've
saved up enough to by a new washer? "Buy now, and make no payments,
pay no interest for 12 months!"

Debt doesn't ruin lives, not managing debt does. This point may be
arguable, but I firmly believe it. Being in debt is not causing all
the problems with debt in our society. It's the inability to manage
debt that ruins many people. Now, I can believe that this statement
can't be applied across the board. There are many people out there,
that don't have sufficient income to pay their bills. But I'll
argue that even more go shopping when the stack of bills arrive
because they can't deal with the stress. Or people who can't resist
a new pair of shoes or paying the tab on Guy's Night Out, even though
they know they can't afford it. Just one month of ignoring bills can
rack up a huge amount in late fees and interest that could have helped
people get out of debt. I've learned that stress, denial, and vanity
keep people from managing their debt much more than lack of money.

Start Money Smart has classes for adults, parents, and teenagers
that address these and other myths regarding money. Check out our website for more information.